State shouldn’t intrude on land use
Located an hour east of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach — assuming there’s not traffic — San Bernardino County is the nation’s largest county, with more than 20,000 square miles that extend to the Arizona border. We’re also home to 2.2 million people and our housing is affordable compared to other parts of California.
As of 2021, Inland Empire warehouses accounted for more than a billion square feet with a vacancy rate of approximately 1%. San Bernardino County has more than 3,000 warehouses and Riverside County has almost 1,000 more.
Last week, on behalf of the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors, I sent a letter to state Sen. Anna Caballero, who is chair of the Senate Governance and Finance Committee. This letter highlighted the board’s opposition to Assemblymember Eloise Gómez Reyes’ legislation (AB 2840) because it would increase the cost of new economic development in the county, increase the price of consumer goods, and erode local land use authority while placing our county at a competitive disadvantage to the rest of the state.
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown how vital goods delivery is to the daily lives of Californians. Warehousing and logistics centers are a key component in freight movement and a major job creating industry in many parts of the state. AB 2840 overrides decades of zoning and land use decisions by locally elected governments and bypasses the CEQA review process to create entirely new construction and land use standards on specific industrial facilities.
Recent amendments have limited the bill to only apply to Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. If enacted, AB 2840 would put the Inland Empire at a competitive disadvantage. This legislation will reduce future economic investment in the region and limit new job creation for our residents who urgently need employment opportunities.
Warehousing and logistics companies favor San Bernardino County because of our proximity to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which generate 40% of the containerized cargo entering the United States. Our prime inland location also aids in the dispersal of goods throughout California and the rest of the United States.
Many cities in San Bernardino County have either approved or considering approval of mixed-use projects that include affordable housing in conjunction with warehouse and logistics components. These mixed-use projects are vital to the county’s economic health because the warehouse component makes these projects work financially for developers and bring much needed infrastructure. San Bernardino County residents and businesses benefit from these projects because they revitalize communities through improvements such as new sidewalks, sewers, streets and other infrastructure.
County and municipal government, as part of our decision-making process, are required to follow California’s robust environmental laws, as well as countless other regulations when we review and decide whether or not to approve projects within the county. AB 2840 attempts to supersede these laws. Unless AB 2840 is defeated, mixed-use development projects as described above would cease.
Looking at the legislation from a bigger perspective, AB 2840 would harm cities and counties statewide. Locations outside the Inland Empire
would be forced to expand warehousing and logistics facilities to meet the state’s everincreasing demand for goods. This legislation would force supply and logistics facilities further away from the ports, thereby increasing vehicle miles traveled and pollution.
AB 2840 would put the Inland Empire at a competitive disadvantage in new logistics development compared to other parts of the state. It will also reduce future economic investment in the region and limit new job creation for our residents who urgently need employment opportunities. It deserves a no vote.